Thank you for making The Dickens Christmas Festival the best ever

The Dickens Christmas Festival was our biggest yet and we'd like to take the opportunity to thank you for making the event extra special. Whether you were selling festive foods or homemade goodies in our makers market - you made the event the success it was.

We're already busy planning next years event but we always welcome feedback from our traders to improve the experience for others. We'd really appreciate it if you could complete our survey.

Save the date for 2019

We're already hard at work planning next year's 20th anniversary extravaganza and we'd love you to be apart of it. We'll be hosting the Festival of Christmas 2019 from Friday 29 November to Sunday 1 December.

There will be brand new features as well as fan-favourites making a welcome return. To be part of our 20th birthday, email traders@historicdockyard.co.uk and one of our team will be in contact with you to discuss options.

Festive highlights from 2018

Classic Dickensian characters

In 2018, we celebrated Portsmouth-born Charles Dickens, seen by some as the father of the modern Christmas! Classic characters from Mr. Dickens' most famous novels included Oliver Twist, The Old Curiosity Shop, Great Expectations, David Copperfield, and A Christmas Carol.

Visitors came face to face with the fearsome Miss Havisham and the grump Mr Scrooge - as well as the legendary author himself.

The Gin and Prosecco Parlour

We added more festive entertainment with the all-new Gin and Prosecco Parlour. Dickens himself was said to have been a fan of gin and was impressed with the new-fangled "cocktail" on a trip to America in the 1840s - the Gin Sling became a firm favourite of his.

Visitors made the most of the new venue as they listened to live music and entertainment throughout the weekend.

Tell us about your experience trading with us

Complete our survey and help us improve Festival of Christmas 2019 for other traders.